Efforts to salvage WTO talks continue
Hong Kong: Trade ministers from nearly 150 countries continued their efforts to salvage the global free trade talks, even as the negotiations went into their penultimate day.

Trade representatives from World Trade Organisation (WTO) states now appear to be attempting to arrive at a minimum deal in order to call the meeting a success and keep alive hopes of firming a deal on a new trade treaty early next year.

The European Union continued to hold out against calls for a date for ending farm export subsidies, even as the United States continued to resist was resisting demands to give duty-free and quota-free access to goods from some 49 of the world's least developed countries.

Despite the obvious tensions, U.S. trade representative Rob Portman said he was optimistic there would be agreements on the duty-free, quota-free package and on setting a date to eliminate agricultural export subsidies. The EU has so far refused to endorse a 2010 date for that. It says the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand must agree to reforms of their farm export systems first.
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Italy's central bank governor under renewed pressure to quit
Rome: With reports emerging that he was under investigation by prosecutors on suspicion of insider trading, Italy's central bank governor, Antonio Fazio, once again came under pressure to quit.

The governor's persistent refusal to step down has become a source of acute embarrassment for the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, even as he prepares for an election year. In response to the new reports, Berlusconi and his finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, both issued veiled warnings that they were ready to change proposed new legislation to force out Fazio.

Berlusconi revealed that the cabinet was to meet in emergency session on Tuesday to discuss altering a bill on corporate governance and investor protection. He said the subjects for discussion would include "the procedure for the appointment of the governor and his term of office".

Fazio, who has an open-ended mandate, can be ousted from his position only by a 13-member board. The board, however, has already renewed its confidence in him three months ago. Fazio, 69, is already under investigation for suspected abuse of office. Judicial sources confirmed reports in two Italian newspapers that prosecutors in Milan had put Fazio's name on a list of official suspects for insider trading.
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Threadneedle, LSE's biggest shareholder, rejects 580p bid
London: The £1.56 billion bid for the London Stock Exchange by the Australian Macquarie Bank looked likely to falter, with a second major shareholder in the exchange coming out publicly against the 580p-a-share offer.

Threadneedle Asset Management, which is the LSE's biggest shareholder, with 12 per cent of the shares, followed the second biggest institutional investor, Scottish Widows, in rejecting the offer from Australia's Macquarie Bank. Widows had already said it was voting its 7 per cent stake in the London exchange against Macquarie.

With Threadneedle's rejection, nearly 20 per cent of the LSE's shares have come down against Macquarie's offer within 24 hours of it being made.

Threadneedle issued a statement yesterday saying it "would like to make it clear that it has no intention of accepting the recent offer for the London Stock Exchange by MLX [Macquarie's vehicle for the bid]".

The statement said: "Threadneedle Asset Management has invested in the LSE because of its unique brand and strategic position, its strong cash flows and its future growth potential. The MLX offer fails to reflect these factors."

The LSE had on Thursday criticised the offer as "derisory" and "wholly inadequate".
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Conrad Black charged with racketeering
Toronto: The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago dealt out new federal charges in its case against Conrad Black yesterday, including allegations the former media mogul was involved in racketeering.

The 61-year-old Black was hit with four new charges in addition to the eight counts of fraud that he is already facing.

The new counts are racketeering, obstruction of justice, money laundering and wire fraud. They stem from Black's time at the helm of Chicago-based newspaper publisher Hollinger International Inc., owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and former proprietor of the London Telegraph, Jerusalem Post and other publications in the United States, Canada and abroad.

The press baron's lawyer issued a response yesterday, saying "this is a blatant example of overreaching by the prosecutor. Black pleaded not guilty to the eight fraud counts at the beginning of this month. He is scheduled to appear in a Chicago court tomorrow to face the additional charges.
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